Two former Iraqi Health Ministry officials cleared of helping Shiite death squads celebrated their release Wednesday with friends and family while outraged Sunni politicians called it a black day that showed just how dysfunctional the judicial system is. Former Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili and Brig. Gen. Hameed al-Shimmari, who was in charge of the ministry's security force, were freed two days after an Iraqi court dropped kidnapping, murder and corruption charges against them for lack of evidence. Delighted Shiites threw a party for the suspects in Sadr City that included guests aligned with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia the suspects were accused of aiding.

SHORT-LIVED TRUCE

Turkey launched airstrikes on Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq less than a week after the end of a large-scale ground operation, an Iraqi official said Wednesday. Turkey's military did not confirm or deny the report. If confirmed, they would be the first air attacks since the military ended its eight-day ground incursion Friday. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

ALL THREE OR NONE

The Iraqi government is refusing to execute Ali Hassan al-Mujid, the Saddam Hussein henchman and cousin known as "Chemical Ali," unless the death sentences of two other Saddam-era officials -- Hussein Rashid Mohammed, the former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, and Sultan Hashim al-Taie, a former defense minister -- also are approved. The dispute pits Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against the three-member presidency council composed of the president, a Kurd, and two vice presidents, one a Shiite and the other a Sunni. The council blocked the two other executions in what was seen as an attempt to appease Sunnis.

FAMILY THREATENED

Death threats have been made against the family of the Marine who allegedly is in a YouTube video that shows a puppy being tossed over a cliff in Iraq, the Marine's sister said. "We've received plenty of hate, we've received death threats against our family," the sister said in a Seattle radio interview. The Everett Herald in Washington state reported that the Marine is from Monroe. The Marine Corps is investigating.

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